Salute to the Boss Button

Watching March Madness at work is like eating at McDonald’s or masturbating. Everyone does it, but you still don’t want to get caught in the act. That’s why NCAA.com’s boss button is worth talking about more than their ability to show us every game live on the Internet.

The boss button sits just to the right of the March Madness logo in the website header. It’s visible but not in the way of your live game, box scores or advanced stats.

And with just a simple click, the boss button turns your computer screen from a Vegas sportsbook-worthy tournament viewing machine into a generic business environment. But what makes this year’s boss button experience special is it’s not just static productivity charts or Excel spreadsheets. This Outlook-inspired email application is actually interactive.

You can open and close emails, click through various inbox folders and explore the entertaining content provided by the NCAA. There’s funny notes from HR about the personal use of office supplies. There’s cartoons from the CMO about buying smart phones. There’s even expense report denials from the finance department. So as the games resume Thursday, take some time during blowouts and halftimes to explore this fake work world and appreciate that the boss button has probably saved more than a few jobs over the years.

For all that you’ve done for sports fans, we at Upper Reserved salute and thank you boss button!

*As a bonus for those of you that enjoy not working at work after March, here’s a link to a browser add-on that puts a boss button on Firefox.